Massey’s lawsuit says that federal law didn’t allow the company to challenge MSHA’s requirements, saying such a restriction “violated its constitutional rights,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Specifically in question was MSHA’s denial of Massey’s plan to use “dust scrubbers.”

In particular, Massey said the MSHA prevented the company from using dust scrubbers in its mines that would filter out dust that is dangerous for miners to breathe. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by six Massey subsidiaries based in West Virginia and Kentucky.

“The goal of the lawsuit is pretty simple. It’s to retain some control of the ventilation plans our mines operate under,” said Shane Harvey, Massey’s general counsel.

Amy Louviere, an MSHA spokeswoman, said the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation. The agency has said it restricted the use of scrubbers at Massey mines because the equipment wasn’t cleaning the air adequately.

So the agency in charge of protecting the safety of mines and miners made the determination that the mine company’s plan to keep its mines safe was inadequate. After 29 workers died, Massey turns around and throws a hissy fit and sues MSHA. Why was Massey so hung up on using dust scrubbers? Turns out MSHA says it allows them to produce more coal. Of course.

The MSHA’s administrator for coal-mine safety and health, Kevin Stricklin, who was named in the Massey suit as a defendant, previously said he believed Massey wanted to use scrubbers to enable it to increase its production rates, because scrubbers can allow a company to mine more coal without interruption.

Mr. Harvey denied that production issues spurred the lawsuit. “We didn’t take this step lightly,” he said. “Obviously we would prefer not to sue the agency that regulates us.”

And if you have to sue the regulators to “run coal,” so be it. Even if it leaves 29 of your employees dead. Because hey, it’s a corporation’s constitutional right to kill its workers, according to Massey.

Now Our Media Stars can never report on Massey Energy without saying “Well, Massey has killed dozens of its workers and has numerous safety violations, but then again, Massey has sued the regulators, so gosh, it’s just impossible for us to tell who’s in the right here!”

It’s what they do. Nothing personal, it is their business model.
When confronted they sue or counter-sue. There by tying up whatever the issue is in court for years or possibly decades to avoid responsibility.
Who is it that makes the laws?

I…they…what? Analogies fail me, but here goes: It’s like a knife juggler who, after fumbling 29 knives in such a way that 29 audience members are stabbed to death by the falling knives, sues the rest of the audience for breaking his concentration?